ASSOCIATED PRESS: Publisher Brian Tierney says creditors have won the auction for Philadelphia newspapers with a $139 million bid. Tierney says he won’t fight the bankruptcy confirmation of the bid for the company that operates The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News. The company is expected to emerge from the bitterly fought bankruptcy at the end of June after 14 months. MORE
PHILLY.COM: Brian P. Tierney, CEO of Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C., announced Wednesday afternoon that the company that owns the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News has been sold to its senior lenders for $135 million. That includes $105 million in cash, plus real estate, for the company that also owns Philly.com. “Brian Tierney was extremely gracious in defeat. He pledged his support for a smooth transition. The senior lenders were very grateful,” said Ben Logan, a lawyer for the committee of unsecured creditors. “We didn’t make it,” Tierney said. “I think I’ll go home tonight and sleep like a baby, which means I’ll wake up every hour crying.” MORE
CUP O’ JOEL: We moved to Philadelphia nearly two years ago, and for the first time in my adult life I’ve gone without a subscription to a local daily 
newspaper. Why? Easy: It’s the 21st century! Why spend money on getting a printed product when you can just go to Philly.com and select the RSS feeds you want to follow? Today, however, that changed. Money’s still tight in the Mathis household — full-time employment sure would be nice! — but it seemed like a declaration of values is needed. I subscribed to the Philadelphia Daily News. Our first issue should arrive on Friday or Saturday. Again, why? Again: Easy. The Daily News has new owners. And I want them to know how important Philadelphia journalism is to me. To be clear, this isn’t passive-aggressive gotcha with Brian Tierney, the would-be media mogul who lost control of the Daily News — and the Inquirer, and Philly.com — today. I’ve been critical of Tierney’s seeming cynicism and hucksterism — but if Tierney possessed those qualities in abundance, one has to give him props for continuing to support good journalism in a challenging era. The Daily News won — and deserved — a Pulitzer Prize this year. Now that he’s out, and a group of creditors is taking over, the question will almost certainly be raised: Can the Daily News survive? MORE
PREVIOUSLY: Philly Newspaper Auction Begins After 17 Hours Of Wrangling
Tierney discusses the sale.